Whale Watching and Northern Light Chasing in Tromsø Norway
Speeding through the fjords off the coast of Tromsø in Northern Norway, decked out in thermal sea-faring gear (arctic onesies) and goggles, the icy wind rushes past my well-muffled ears. The polar nights are here and the grey half-light of mid-morning blends with the white and ice of the surrounding landscape and the deep grey of the water. As the RIB (rigid inflatable boat) we’re aboard navigates the ocean channels, eyes dart wildly around as everyone onboard focuses and strains to spot the first one – we’ve all come a long way for this. We’re all here with the hope of seeing orca, or killer whales. We have an early sighting some way off in the distance, but the orca dive down and out of sight – it looks like they’ve gone. Moving further out into the fjords the RIB stops in an open body of water and we spot them again – orcas in the distance are heading our way. Surpassing my fingers-crossed silent wishing, we are quite suddenly surrounded by orcas. There are pods of them in eve